Jake Locker faces his NFL future at Senior Bowl

MOBILE, Ala. — Jake Locker stepped on stage Monday morning for the NFL.

That is neither a metaphor nor hyperbole. He was actually on a stage at the Mobile Convention Center, wearing nothing more than a pair of black spandex shorts and a St. Christopher medallion, while more than 500 of the NFL's top talent appraisers watched him get measured for this week's Senior Bowl.

"That was a little different," the former Washington Huskies quarterback said of the exposure. "Something that I'll be able to laugh about the rest of my life, that's for sure."

Height: 6-feet-2 ¼. Weight: 228 pounds. Sense of humor: Abundant.

Welcome to the poke-and-prod portion of the NFL. A time when the league's 32 teams get to inspect the merchandise before it goes up for bid in April's draft.

Locker has as much to gain as anyone here at the Senior Bowl — and possibly more to lose. Andrew Luck's return to Stanford left this year's draft without a clear-cut No. 1 quarterback prospect, and Locker is one of four players at the position considered to have first-round potential. Though some projected him a top-10 pick a year ago, he returned to school for a bowl-bound encore. And Monday he entered the meat grinder of NFL evaluation without a hint of regret.

"I feel blessed to be able to go anywhere I'd go in the draft, to have the opportunity to play in the NFL," he said.

Locker is in Mobile, along with more than 100 other college seniors, for Saturday's all-star game. But by then, most of the NFL's scouts and executives will be gone. They come for the practices — specifically for the first three days when the players are in pads, which means the scrutiny started Monday for Locker.

"It was smart of him to be here," said Mike Mayock, a draft analyst with the NFL Network. "There are a lot of questions about him. The biggest question he has to answer is the accuracy issue."

Locker can throw on the run as well as anyone in the country. It's his ability to pass from the pocket that's most concerning. He never completed more than 58.4 percent of his pass attempts in any of his four seasons at UW. Those concerns weren't exactly abated by Monday's practice, when a Locker pass was picked off and he had several errant throws.

"He was a little bit erratic," Mayock said after the practice. "And I think a lot of the quarterbacks are the first day, so I don't worry too much about that. But it's really important for him. Starting tomorrow, he needs to be as accurate as possible in the pocket."

Truthfully, Locker wasn't always the best player wearing No. 10 on his team. Nevada's Colin Kaepernick has the same number, and while he's not ranked as high as Locker, he may have been more consistent — at least for this workout.

OK. Time for a deep breath. It was the first day, a single practice. Locker has four years at Washington behind him, and two months of evaluation ahead of him.

No one makes a decision this quick. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who is in charge of the North team, said he's barely had enough time to form a first impression.

"His personality is such that he'll be a good leader," Lewis said after practice. "You could see him sticking around the NFL for a while just based on his personality over the 36 hours that we've been around him."

There is no question about Locker's athleticism. He is a quarterback who can outrun linebackers, and his arm strength is above reproach. But when he tries to muscle in a throw on a curl or load up on a fastball, he's prone to throwing high.

Tim Lappano was Washington's offensive coordinator when Locker came to the school. He's now on the Detroit Lions staff, and at the Senior Bowl, he has as good a vantage point as any to talk about what Locker needs to do on this stage.

"He's got a strong arm," Lappano said. "I just think that he needs to make sure that he identifies coverages, and it goes from progression one, two to three without making mistakes, forcing the football.

"I watched a little bit of him this year when I could on Saturdays, and I saw him force the ball in there a little bit."

Locker is the only one of the top quarterback prospects at the Senior Bowl. Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, Arkansas' Ryan Mallett and Auburn's Cam Newton are all underclassmen.

That focuses the spotlight on Locker, who will spend this week talking more about his decision not to enter the draft last year than what he expects this year.

He has become a cautionary tale — the could-have-been No. 1 choice whose decision to return to school may have cost him millions. And no matter how many times he talks about the four consecutive wins to close the Huskies' season, the Holiday Bowl victory over Nebraska or leaving Washington after a winning season, the question always comes back to the millions he may have left on the table.

"It wasn't about where I was going to get drafted," Locker said. "It wasn't about how much money. That wasn't what the decision was about. The decision was about what was I not going to regret in 20 years, in 30 years.

"Was I going to wish I came back and played another year if I left? Making the decision I did, I can honestly tell you I haven't regretted it for a day."

So he faces his professional future with an abundance of arm strength and not an ounce of regret. His accuracy is a question, but his enthusiasm is apparent in this NFL audition.

"It's another step and it's fun to be a part of right now," Locker said. "I'm excited about it."

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com